Even when I get the fried-chicken special of the day, I have to dig into it like it's filet mignon.

I just hope this [Emmy] is now a part of the status quo that women of color are included in the narratives that continue to write lead roles for us.

If you're a boxer, you want to get the ring with a Mike Tyson or Muhammad Ali type. When you're acting, you want to get in with Meryl Streep, and that's what I did.

Self-deprecation is not an answer to keeping one's balance. I think that it's very damaging.

The only thing that separates women of color from everyone else is opportunity.

Knowing the only way out is education, even if you don't have parents that are extraordinarily wealthy. I understand that I have to be an active participant in [my daughter's] education in order for her to thrive in the world.

You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.